Method and apparatus for performing lte sl communication based on dci

ABSTRACT

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method for a first apparatus to perform long-term evolution (LTE) sidelink (SL) communication through downlink control information (DCI). The method includes: receiving DCI from a new radio (NR) base station through a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH); obtaining a first timing offset based on the DCI; and performing LTE SL communication based on the first timing offset.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/863,912, filed on Apr. 30, 2020, which is a continuation pursuant to35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of International Application PCT/KR2020/002849, withan international filing date of Feb. 27, 2020, which claims the benefitof U.S. Provisional Applications No. 62/811,474 filed on Feb. 27, 2019,No. 62/828,467 filed on Apr. 2, 2019, and No. 62/888,355 filed on Aug.16, 2019, the contents of which are all hereby incorporated by referenceherein in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Field of the Disclosure

This disclosure relates to a wireless communication system.

Related Art

Sidelink (SL) communication is a communication scheme in which a directlink is established between user equipments (UEs) and the UEs exchangevoice and data directly with each other without intervention of anevolved Node B (eNB). SL communication is under consideration as asolution to the overhead of an eNB caused by rapidly increasing datatraffic.

Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) refers to a communication technology throughwhich a vehicle exchanges information with another vehicle, apedestrian, an object having an infrastructure (or infra) establishedtherein, and the like. The V2X may be divided into 4 types, such asvehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I),vehicle-to-network (V2N), and vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P). The V2Xcommunication may be provided via a PC5 interface and/or Uu interface.

As a wider range of communication devices require larger communicationcapacities, the need for mobile broadband communication that is moreenhanced than the existing radio access technology (RAT) is rising.Accordingly, discussions are made on services and user equipment (UE)that are sensitive to reliability and latency. A next-generation radioaccess technology that is based on the enhanced mobile broadbandcommunication, massive machine-type communication (MTC), ultra-reliableand low latency communication (URLLC), and the like, may be referred toas a new radio access technology (RAT) or new radio (NR). Here, the NRmay also support vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication.

FIG. 1 is a drawing for describing V2X communication based on NR,compared to V2X communication based on RAT used before NR. Theembodiment of FIG. 1 may be combined with various embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

Regarding V2X communication, a scheme of providing a safety service,based on a V2X message, such as a basic safety message (BSM), acooperative awareness message (CAM), and a decentralized environmentalnotification message (DENM), is focused in the discussion on the RATused before the NR. The V2X message may include position information,dynamic information, attribute information, or the like. For example, aUE may transmit a periodic message type CAM and/or an event triggeredmessage type DENM to another UE.

For example, the CAM may include dynamic state information of thevehicle such as direction and speed, static data of the vehicle such asa size, and basic vehicle information such as an exterior illuminationstate, route details, or the like. For example, the UE may broadcast theCAM, and latency of the CAM may be less than 100 ms. For example, the UEmay generate the DENM and transmit it to another UE in an unexpectedsituation such as a vehicle breakdown, accident, or the like. Forexample, all vehicles within a transmission range of the UE may receivethe CAM and/or the DENM. In this case, the DENM may have a higherpriority than the CAM.

Thereafter, regarding V2X communication, various V2X scenarios areproposed in NR. For example, the various V2X scenarios may includevehicle platooning, advanced driving, extended sensors, remote driving,or the like.

For example, based on the vehicle platooning, vehicles may move togetherby dynamically forming a group. For example, in order to perform platoonoperations based on the vehicle platooning, the vehicles belonging tothe group may receive periodic data from a leading vehicle. For example,the vehicles belonging to the group may decrease or increase an intervalbetween the vehicles by using the periodic data.

For example, based on the advanced driving, the vehicle may besemi-automated or fully automated. For example, each vehicle may adjusttrajectories or maneuvers, based on data obtained from a local sensor ofa proximity vehicle and/or a proximity logical entity. In addition, forexample, each vehicle may share driving intention with proximityvehicles.

For example, based on the extended sensors, raw data, processed data, orlive video data obtained through the local sensors may be exchangedbetween a vehicle, a logical entity, a UE of pedestrians, and/or a V2Xapplication server. Therefore, for example, the vehicle may recognize amore improved environment than an environment in which a self-sensor isused for detection.

For example, based on the remote driving, for a person who cannot driveor a remote vehicle in a dangerous environment, a remote driver or a V2Xapplication may operate or control the remote vehicle. For example, if aroute is predictable such as public transportation, cloud computingbased driving may be used for the operation or control of the remotevehicle. In addition, for example, an access for a cloud-based back-endservice platform may be considered for the remote driving.

Meanwhile, a scheme of specifying service requirements for various V2Xscenarios such as vehicle platooning, advanced driving, extendedsensors, remote driving, or the like is discussed in NR-based V2Xcommunication.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a method for sidelink(SL) communication between apparatuses (or UEs) based on V2Xcommunication and an apparatus (or UE) for performing the same.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a method and anapparatus for performing long-term evolution (LTE) SL communicationbetween apparatuses based on V2X communication in a wirelesscommunication system.

Still another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a methodand an apparatus for performing LTE SL communication based on downlinkcontrol information (DCI) received from an NR base station.

According to one embodiment of the disclosure, there is a provided amethod for a first apparatus to perform long-term evolution (LTE)sidelink (SL) communication through downlink control information (DCI).The method includes: receiving DCI from a new radio (NR) base stationthrough a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH); obtaining a firsttiming offset based on the DCI; and performing LTE SL communicationbased on the first timing offset, wherein a minimum value of the firsttiming offset is determined based on a minimum latency between an NRmodule for NR communication and an LTE module for LTE communication ofthe first apparatus.

According to another embodiment of the disclosure, there is a provided afirst apparatus for performing sidelink (SL) communication throughdownlink control information (DCI). The first apparatus includes: atleast one memory to store instructions; at least one transceiver; and atleast one processor to connect the at least one memory and the at leastone transceiver, wherein the at least one processor controls the atleast one transceiver to receive DCI from a new radio (NR) NR basestation through a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), obtains afirst timing offset based on the DCI, and performs LTE SL communicationbased on the first timing offset, and a minimum value of the firsttiming offset is determined based on a minimum latency between an NRmodule for NR communication and an LTE module for LTE communication ofthe first apparatus.

According to still another embodiment of the disclosure, there is aprovided an apparatus for controlling a first UE. The apparatusincludes: at least one processor; and at least one computer memory thatis connected to be executable by the at least one processor and storesinstructions, wherein, when the at least one processor executes theinstructions, the first UE receives downlink control information (DCI)from an NR base station through a physical downlink control channel(PDCCH), obtains a first timing offset based on the DCI, and performsLTE SL communication based on the first timing offset, and wherein aminimum value of the first timing offset is determined based on aminimum latency between a new radio (NR) module for NR communication andan LTE module for LTE communication of the first UE.

According to yet another embodiment of the disclosure, there is aprovided a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium havinginstructions recorded thereon which, when executed by at least oneprocessor, enable: downlink control information (DCI) to be received bya first apparatus from a new radio (NR) base station through a physicaldownlink control channel (PDCCH); a first timing offset to be obtainedby the first apparatus based on the DCI; and LTE SL communication to beperformed by the first apparatus based on the first timing offset,wherein a minimum value of the first timing offset is determined basedon a minimum latency between an NR module for NR communication and anLTE module for LTE communication of the first apparatus.

According to still another embodiment of the disclosure, there is aprovided a method for a new radio (NR) base station to control sidelink(SL) communication of a first apparatus through downlink controlinformation (DCI). The method includes: determining DCI including afirst timing offset; and transmitting the DCI to the first apparatusthrough a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), wherein the firsttiming offset is used when the first apparatus performs LTE SLcommunication, and a minimum value of the first timing offset isdetermined based on a minimum latency between an NR module for NRcommunication and an LTE module for LTE communication of the firstapparatus.

According to yet another embodiment of the disclosure, there is aprovided a new radio (NR) base station for controlling sidelink (SL)communication of a first apparatus through downlink control information(DCI). The NR base station includes: at least one memory to storeinstructions; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor toconnect the at least one memory and the at least one transceiver,wherein the at least one processor determines DCI including a firsttiming offset and controls the at least one transceiver to transmit theDCI to the first apparatus through a physical downlink control channel(PDCCH), the first timing offset is used when the first apparatusperforms LTE SL communication, and a minimum value of the first timingoffset is determined based on a minimum latency between an NR module forNR communication and an LTE module for LTE communication of the firstapparatus.

According to the present disclosure, a UE (or apparatus) may efficientlyperform SL communication.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to efficientlyperform V2X communication between apparatuses (UEs).

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to efficientlyperform LTE SL communication based on DCI received from an NR basestation.

According to the present disclosure, an NR base station may support anLTE mode 3 SL operation and/or scheduling for a UE through an NR Uuinterface and may reduce the implementation complexity of the UE in asupport process.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a drawing for describing V2X communication based on NR,compared to V2X communication based on RAT used before NR.

FIG. 2 shows a structure of an NR system in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 shows a functional division between an NG-RAN and a 5GC inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show a radio protocol architecture in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 shows a structure of an NR system in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 shows a structure of a slot of an NR frame in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a BWP in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIGS. 8A and 8B show a radio protocol architecture for a SLcommunication in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 9 shows a UE performing V2X or SL communication in accordance withan embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 10A and 10B show a procedure of performing V2X or SL communicationby a UE based on a transmission mode in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIGS. 11A to 11C show three cast types in accordance with an embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 shows a process in which a first apparatus performs LTE SLcommunication based on DCI received from an NR base station inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 shows a process in which a first apparatus and a secondapparatus perform LTE SL communication in accordance with an embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a first apparatusin accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of an NR base stationin accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 shows a communication system 1 in accordance with an embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIG. 17 shows wireless devices in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 18 shows a signal process circuit for a transmission signal inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 19 shows a wireless device in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 20 shows a hand-held device in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 21 shows a car or an autonomous vehicle in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

In the present specification, “A or B” may mean “only A”, “only B” or“both A and B.” In other words, in the present specification, “A or B”may be interpreted as “A and/or B”. For example, in the presentspecification, “A, B, or C” may mean “only A”, “only B”, “only C”, or“any combination of A, B, C”.

A slash (/) or comma used in the present specification may mean“and/or”. For example, “A/B” may mean “A and/or B”. Accordingly, “A/B”may mean “only A”, “only B”, or “both A and B”. For example, “A, B, C”may mean “A, B, or C”.

In the present specification, “at least one of A and B” may mean “onlyA”, “only B”, or “both A and B”. In addition, in the presentspecification, the expression “at least one of A or B” or “at least oneof A and/or B” may be interpreted as “at least one of A and B”.

In addition, in the present specification, “at least one of A, B, and C”may mean “only A”, “only B”, “only C”, or “any combination of A, B, andC”. In addition, “at least one of A, B, or C” or “at least one of A, B,and/or C” may mean “at least one of A, B, and C”.

In addition, a parenthesis used in the present specification may mean“for example”. Specifically, when indicated as “control information(PDCCH)”, it may mean that “PDCCH” is proposed as an example of the“control information”. In other words, the “control information” of thepresent specification is not limited to “PDCCH”, and “PDDCH” may beproposed as an example of the “control information”. In addition, whenindicated as “control information (i.e., PDCCH)”, it may also mean that“PDCCH” is proposed as an example of the “control information”.

A technical feature described individually in one figure in the presentspecification may be individually implemented, or may be simultaneouslyimplemented.

The technology described below may be used in various wirelesscommunication systems such as code division multiple access (CDMA),frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access(TDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), singlecarrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), and the like. TheCDMA may be implemented with a radio technology, such as universalterrestrial radio access (UTRA) or CDMA-2000. The TDMA may beimplemented with a radio technology, such as global system for mobilecommunications (GSM)/general packet ratio service (GPRS)/enhanced datarate for GSM evolution (EDGE). The OFDMA may be implemented with a radiotechnology, such as institute of electrical and electronics engineers(IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, evolved UTRA(E-UTRA), and the like. IEEE 802.16m is an evolved version of IEEE802.16e and provides backward compatibility with a system based on theIEEE 802.16e. The UTRA is part of a universal mobile telecommunicationsystem (UMTS). 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) long termevolution (LTE) is part of an evolved UMTS (E-UMTS) using the E-UTRA.The 3GPP LTE uses the OFDMA in a downlink and uses the SC-FDMA in anuplink. LTE-advanced (LTE-A) is an evolution of the LTE.

5G NR is a successive technology of LTE-A corresponding to a newClean-slate type mobile communication system having the characteristicsof high performance, low latency, high availability, and the like. 5G NRmay use resources of all spectrum available for usage including lowfrequency bands of less than 1 GHz, middle frequency bands ranging from1 GHz to 10 GHz, high frequency (millimeter waves) of 24 GHz or more,and the like.

For clarity in the description, the following description will mostlyfocus on LTE-A or 5G NR. However, technical features according to anembodiment of the present disclosure will not be limited only to this.

FIG. 2 shows a structure of an NR system in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiment of FIG. 2 may becombined with various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2, a next generation-radio access network (NG-RAN) mayinclude a BS 20 providing a UE 10 with a user plane and control planeprotocol termination. For example, the BS 20 may include a nextgeneration-Node B (gNB) and/or an evolved-NodeB (eNB). For example, theUE 10 may be fixed or mobile and may be referred to as other terms, suchas a mobile station (MS), a user terminal (UT), a subscriber station(SS), a mobile terminal (MT), a wireless device, and the like. Forexample, the BS may be referred to as a fixed station which communicateswith the UE 10 and may be referred to as other terms, such as a basetransceiver system (BTS), an access point (AP), and the like.

The embodiment of FIG. 2 exemplifies a case where only the gNB isincluded. The BSs 20 may be connected to one another via Xn interface.The BS 20 may be connected to one another via 5th generation (5G) corenetwork (5GC) and NG interface. More specifically, the BSs 20 may beconnected to an access and mobility management function (AMF) 30 viaNG-C interface, and may be connected to a user plane function (UPF) 30via NG-U interface.

FIG. 3 shows a functional division between an NG-RAN and a 5GC inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3, the gNB may provide functions, such as Inter CellRadio Resource Management (RRM), Radio Bearer (RB) control, ConnectionMobility Control, Radio Admission Control, Measurement Configuration &Provision, Dynamic Resource Allocation, and the like. An AMF may providefunctions, such as non access stratum (NAS) security, idle statemobility processing, and the like. A UPF may provide functions, such asmobility anchoring, protocol data unit (PDU) processing, and the like. Asession management function (SMF) may provide functions, such as userequipment (UE) Internet protocol (IP) address allocation, PDU sessioncontrol, and the like.

Layers of a radio interface protocol between the UE and the network canbe classified into a first layer (L1), a second layer (L2), and a thirdlayer (L3) based on the lower three layers of the open systeminterconnection (OSI) model that is well-known in the communicationsystem. Among them, a physical (PHY) layer belonging to the first layerprovides an information transfer service by using a physical channel,and a radio resource control (RRC) layer belonging to the third layerserves to control a radio resource between the UE and the network. Forthis, the RRC layer exchanges an RRC message between the UE and the BS.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show a radio protocol architecture in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiment of FIGS. 4Aa and 4Bmay be combined with various embodiments of the present disclosure.Specifically, FIG. 4A shows a radio protocol architecture for a userplane, and FIG. 4B shows a radio protocol architecture for a controlplane. The user plane corresponds to a protocol stack for user datatransmission, and the control plane corresponds to a protocol stack forcontrol signal transmission.

Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B, a physical layer provides an upper layerwith an information transfer service through a physical channel. Thephysical layer is connected to a medium access control (MAC) layer whichis an upper layer of the physical layer through a transport channel.Data is transferred between the MAC layer and the physical layer throughthe transport channel. The transport channel is classified according tohow and with what characteristics data is transmitted through a radiointerface.

Between different physical layers, i.e., a physical layer of atransmitter and a physical layer of a receiver, data are transferredthrough the physical channel. The physical channel is modulated using anorthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) scheme, and utilizestime and frequency as a radio resource.

The MAC layer provides services to a radio link control (RLC) layer,which is a higher layer of the MAC layer, via a logical channel. The MAClayer provides a function of mapping multiple logical channels tomultiple transport channels. The MAC layer also provides a function oflogical channel multiplexing by mapping multiple logical channels to asingle transport channel. The MAC layer provides data transfer servicesover logical channels.

The RLC layer performs concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly ofRadio Link Control Service Data Unit (RLC SDU). In order to ensurediverse quality of service (QoS) required by a radio bearer (RB), theRLC layer provides three types of operation modes, i.e., a transparentmode (TM), an unacknowledged mode (UM), and an acknowledged mode (AM).An AM RLC provides error correction through an automatic repeat request(ARQ).

A radio resource control (RRC) layer is defined only in the controlplane. The RRC layer serves to control the logical channel, thetransport channel, and the physical channel in association withconfiguration, reconfiguration and release of RBs. The RB is a logicalpath provided by the first layer (i.e., the physical layer or the PHYlayer) and the second layer (i.e., the MAC layer, the RLC layer, and thepacket data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer) for data delivery betweenthe UE and the network.

Functions of a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer in the userplane include user data delivery, header compression, and ciphering.Functions of a PDCP layer in the control plane include control-planedata delivery and ciphering/integrity protection.

A service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer is defined only in auser plane. The SDAP layer performs mapping between a Quality of Service(QoS) flow and a data radio bearer (DRB) and QoS flow ID (QFI) markingin both DL and UL packets.

The configuration of the RB implies a process for specifying a radioprotocol layer and channel properties to provide a particular serviceand for determining respective detailed parameters and operations. TheRB can be classified into two types, i.e., a signaling RB (SRB) and adata RB (DRB). The SRB is used as a path for transmitting an RRC messagein the control plane. The DRB is used as a path for transmitting userdata in the user plane.

When an RRC connection is established between an RRC layer of the UE andan RRC layer of the E-UTRAN, the UE is in an RRC_CONNECTED state, and,otherwise, the UE may be in an RRC_IDLE state. In case of the NR, an RRCINACTIVE state is additionally defined, and a UE being in the RRCINACTIVE state may maintain its connection with a core network whereasits connection with the BS is released.

Data is transmitted from the network to the UE through a downlinktransport channel. Examples of the downlink transport channel include abroadcast channel (BCH) for transmitting system information and adownlink-shared channel (SCH) for transmitting user traffic or controlmessages. Traffic of downlink multicast or broadcast services or thecontrol messages can be transmitted on the downlink-SCH or an additionaldownlink multicast channel (MCH). Data is transmitted from the UE to thenetwork through an uplink transport channel. Examples of the uplinktransport channel include a random access channel (RACH) fortransmitting an initial control message and an uplink SCH fortransmitting user traffic or control messages.

Examples of logical channels belonging to a higher channel of thetransport channel and mapped onto the transport channels include abroadcast channel (BCCH), a paging control channel (PCCH), a commoncontrol channel (CCCH), a multicast control channel (MCCH), a multicasttraffic channel (MTCH), or the like

The physical channel includes several OFDM symbols in a time domain andseveral sub-carriers in a frequency domain. One sub-frame includes aplurality of OFDM symbols in the time domain. A resource block is a unitof resource allocation, and consists of a plurality of OFDM symbols anda plurality of sub-carriers. Further, each subframe may use specificsub-carriers of specific OFDM symbols (e.g., a first OFDM symbol) of acorresponding subframe for a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH),i.e., an L1/L2 control channel. A transmission time interval (TTI) is aunit time of subframe transmission.

FIG. 5 shows a structure of an NR system in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiment of FIG. 5 may becombined with various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 5, in the NR, a radio frame may be used for performinguplink and downlink transmission. A radio frame has a length of 10 msand may be defined to be configured of two half-frames (HFs). Ahalf-frame may include five 1 ms subframes (SFs). A subframe (SF) may bedivided into one or more slots, and the number of slots within asubframe may be determined in accordance with subcarrier spacing (SCS).Each slot may include 12 or 14 OFDM(A) symbols according to a cyclicprefix (CP).

In case of using a normal CP, each slot may include 14 symbols. In caseof using an extended CP, each slot may include 12 symbols. Here, asymbol may include an OFDM symbol (or CP-OFDM symbol) and a SingleCarrier-FDMA (SC-FDMA) symbol (or Discrete Fourier Transform-spread-OFDM(DFT-s-OFDM) symbol).

Table 1 shown below represents an example of a number of symbols perslot (N^(slot) _(symb)), a number slots per frame (N^(frame,u) _(slot)),and a number of slots per subframe (N^(subframe,u) _(slot)) inaccordance with an SCS configuration (u), in a case where a normal CP isused.

TABLE 1 SCS (15*2^(u)) N^(slot) _(symb) N^(frame, u) _(slot)N^(subframe, u) _(slot) 15 KHz (u = 0) 14 10 1 30 KHz (u = 1) 14 20 2 60KHz (u = 2) 14 40 4 120 KHz (u = 3) 14 80 8 240 KHz (u = 4) 14 160 16

Table 2 shows an example of a number of symbols per slot, a number ofslots per frame, and a number of slots per subframe in accordance withthe SCS, in a case where an extended CP is used.

TABLE 2 SCS (15*2^(u)) N^(slot) _(symb) N^(frame, u) _(slot)N^(subframe, u) _(slot) 60 KHz (u = 2) 12 40 4

In an NR system, OFDM(A) numerologies (e.g., SCS, CP length, and thelike) between multiple cells being integrate to one UE may bedifferently configured. Accordingly, a (absolute time) duration (orsection) of a time resource (e.g., subframe, slot or TTI) (collectivelyreferred to as a time unit (TU) for simplicity) being configured of thesame number of symbols may be differently configured in the integratedcells.

In the NR, multiple numerologies or SCSs for supporting diverse 5Gservices may be supported. For example, in case an SCS is 15 kHz, a widearea of the conventional cellular bands may be supported, and, in casean SCS is 30 kHz/60 kHz a dense-urban, lower latency, wider carrierbandwidth may be supported. In case the SCS is 60 kHz or higher, abandwidth that is greater than 24.25 GHz may be used in order toovercome phase noise.

An NR frequency band may be defined as two different types of frequencyranges. The two different types of frequency ranges may be FR1 and FR2.The values of the frequency ranges may be changed (or varied), and, forexample, the two different types of frequency ranges may be as shownbelow in Table A3. Among the frequency ranges that are used in an NRsystem, FR1 may mean a “sub 6 GHz range”, and FR2 may mean an “above 6GHz range” and may also be referred to as a millimeter wave (mmW).

TABLE 3 Frequency Range Corresponding designation frequency rangeSubcarrier Spacing (SCS) FR1  450 MHz-6000 MHz  15, 30, 60 kHz FR2 24250MHz-52600 MHz 60, 120, 240 kHz

As described above, the values of the frequency ranges in the NR systemmay be changed (or varied). For example, as shown below in Table A4, FR1may include a band within a range of 410 MHz to 7125 MHz. Morespecifically, FR1 may include a frequency band of 6 GHz (or 5850, 5900,5925 MHz, and the like) and higher. For example, a frequency band of 6GHz (or 5850, 5900, 5925 MHz, and the like) and higher being included inFR1 mat include an unlicensed band. The unlicensed band may be used fordiverse purposes, e.g., the unlicensed band for vehicle-specificcommunication (e.g., automated driving).

TABLE 4 Frequency Range Corresponding designation frequency rangeSubcarrier Spacing (SCS) FR1  410 MHz-7125 MHz  15, 30, 60 kHz FR2 24250MHz-52600 MHz 60, 120, 240 kHz

FIG. 6 shows a structure of a slot of an NR frame in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 6, a slot includes a plurality of symbols in a timedomain. For example, in case of a normal CP, one slot may include 14symbols. However, in case of an extended CP, one slot may include 12symbols. Alternatively, in case of a normal CP, one slot may include 7symbols. However, in case of an extended CP, one slot may include 6symbols.

A carrier includes a plurality of subcarriers in a frequency domain. AResource Block (RB) may be defined as a plurality of consecutivesubcarriers (e.g., 12 subcarriers) in the frequency domain. A bandwidthpart (BWP) may be defined as a plurality of consecutive (physical)resource blocks ((P)RBs) in the frequency domain, and the BWP maycorrespond to one numerology (e.g., SCS, CP length, and the like). Acarrier may include a maximum of N number BWPs (e.g., 5 BWPs). Datacommunication may be performed via an activated BWP. Each element may bereferred to as a Resource Element (RE) within a resource grid and onecomplex symbol may be mapped to each element.

Meanwhile, a radio interface between a UE and another UE or a radiointerface between the UE and a network may consist of an L1 layer, an L2layer, and an L3 layer. In various embodiments of the presentdisclosure, the L1 layer may imply a physical layer. In addition, forexample, the L2 layer may imply at least one of a MAC layer, an RLClayer, a PDCP layer, and an SDAP layer. In addition, for example, the L3layer may imply an RRC layer.

Hereinafter, a bandwidth part (BWP) and a carrier will be described.

The BWP may be a set of consecutive physical resource blocks (PRBs) in agiven numerology. The PRB may be selected from consecutive sub-sets ofcommon resource blocks (CRBs) for the given numerology on a givencarrier.

When using bandwidth adaptation (BA), a reception bandwidth andtransmission bandwidth of a UE are not necessarily as large as abandwidth of a cell, and the reception bandwidth and transmissionbandwidth of the BS may be adjusted. For example, a network/BS mayinform the UE of bandwidth adjustment. For example, the UE receiveinformation/configuration for bandwidth adjustment from the network/BS.In this case, the UE may perform bandwidth adjustment based on thereceived information/configuration. For example, the bandwidthadjustment may include an increase/decrease of the bandwidth, a positionchange of the bandwidth, or a change in subcarrier spacing of thebandwidth.

For example, the bandwidth may be decreased during a period in whichactivity is low to save power. For example, the position of thebandwidth may move in a frequency domain. For example, the position ofthe bandwidth may move in the frequency domain to increase schedulingflexibility. For example, the subcarrier spacing of the bandwidth may bechanged. For example, the subcarrier spacing of the bandwidth may bechanged to allow a different service. A subset of a total cell bandwidthof a cell may be called a bandwidth part (BWP). The BA may be performedwhen the BS/network configures the BWP to the UE and the BS/networkinforms the UE of the BWP currently in an active state among theconfigured BWPs.

For example, the BWP may be at least any one of an active BWP, aninitial BWP, and/or a default BWP. For example, the UE may not monitordownlink radio link quality in a DL BWP other than an active DL BWP on aprimary cell (PCell). For example, the UE may not receive PDCCH, PDSCH,or CSI-RS (excluding RRM) outside the active DL BWP. For example, the UEmay not trigger a channel state information (CSI) report for theinactive DL BWP. For example, the UE may not transmit PUCCH or PUSCHoutside an active UL BWP. For example, in a downlink case, the initialBWP may be given as a consecutive RB set for an RMSI CORESET (configuredby PBCH). For example, in an uplink case, the initial BWP may be givenby SIB for a random access procedure. For example, the default BWP maybe configured by a higher layer. For example, an initial value of thedefault BWP may be an initial DL BWP. For energy saving, if the UE failsto detect DCI during a specific period, the UE may switch the active BWPof the UE to the default BWP.

Meanwhile, the BWP may be defined for SL. The same SL BWP may be used intransmission and reception. For example, a transmitting UE may transmitan SL channel or an SL signal on a specific BWP, and a receiving UE mayreceive the SL channel or the SL signal on the specific BWP. In alicensed carrier, the SL BWP may be defined separately from a Uu BWP,and the SL BWP may have configuration signaling separate from the UuBWP. For example, the UE may receive a configuration for the SL BWP fromthe B S/network. The SL BWP may be (pre-)configured in a carrier withrespect to an out-of-coverage NR V2X UE and an RRC_IDLE UE. For the UEin the RRC_CONNECTED mode, at least one SL BWP may be activated in thecarrier.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a BWP in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. The embodiment of FIG. 7 may be combined withvarious embodiments of the present disclosure. It is assumed in theembodiment of FIG. 7 that the number of BWPs is 3.

Referring to FIG. 7, a common resource block (CRB) may be a carrierresource block numbered from one end of a carrier band to the other endthereof. In addition, the PRB may be a resource block numbered withineach BWP. A point A may indicate a common reference point for a resourceblock grid.

The BWP may be configured by a point A, an offset N^(start) _(BWP) fromthe point A, and a bandwidth N^(size) _(BWP). For example, the point Amay be an external reference point of a PRB of a carrier in which asubcarrier 0 of all numerologies (e.g., all numerologies supported by anetwork on that carrier) is aligned. For example, the offset may be aPRB interval between a lowest subcarrier and the point A in a givennumerology. For example, the bandwidth may be the number of PRBs in thegiven numerology.

Hereinafter, V2X or SL communication will be described.

FIGS. 8A and 8B show a radio protocol architecture for a SLcommunication in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. The embodiment of FIGS. 8A and 8B may be combined withvarious embodiments of the present disclosure. More specifically, FIG.8A shows a user plane protocol stack, and FIG. 8B shows a control planeprotocol stack.

Hereinafter, a sidelink synchronization signal (SLSS) andsynchronization information will be described.

The SLSS may include a primary sidelink synchronization signal (PSSS)and a secondary sidelink synchronization signal (SSSS), as anSL-specific sequence. The PSSS may be referred to as a sidelink primarysynchronization signal (S-PSS), and the SSSS may be referred to as asidelink secondary synchronization signal (S-SSS). For example,length-127 M-sequences may be used for the S-PSS, and length-127 goldsequences may be used for the S-SSS. For example, a UE may use the S-PSSfor initial signal detection and for synchronization acquisition. Forexample, the UE may use the S-PSS and the S-SSS for acquisition ofdetailed synchronization and for detection of a synchronization signalID.

A physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH) may be a (broadcast)channel for transmitting default (system) information which must befirst known by the UE before SL signal transmission/reception. Forexample, the default information may be information related to SLSS, aduplex mode (DM), a time division duplex (TDD) uplink/downlink (UL/DL)configuration, information related to a resource pool, a type of anapplication related to the SLSS, a subframe offset, broadcastinformation, or the like. For example, for evaluation of PSBCHperformance, in NR V2X, a payload size of the PSBCH may be 56 bitsincluding 24-bit CRC.

The S-PSS, the S-SSS, and the PSBCH may be included in a block format(e.g., SL synchronization signal (SS)/PSBCH block, hereinafter,sidelink-synchronization signal block (S-SSB)) supporting periodicaltransmission. The S-SSB may have the same numerology (i.e., SCS and CPlength) as a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH)/physical sidelinkshared channel (PSSCH) in a carrier, and a transmission bandwidth mayexist within a (pre-)configured sidelink (SL) BWP. For example, theS-SSB may have a bandwidth of 11 resource blocks (RBs). For example, thePSBCH may exist across 11 RBs. In addition, a frequency position of theS-SSB may be (pre-)configured. Accordingly, the UE does not have toperform hypothesis detection at frequency to discover the S-SSB in thecarrier.

FIG. 9 shows a UE performing V2X or SL communication in accordance withan embodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiment of FIG. 9 may becombined with various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 9, in V2X or SL communication, the term ‘UE’ maygenerally imply a UE of a user. However, if a network equipment such asa BS transmits/receives a signal according to a communication schemebetween UEs, the BS may also be regarded as a sort of the UE. Forexample, a UE 1 may be a first apparatus 100, and a UE 2 may be a secondapparatus 200.

For example, the UE 1 may select a resource unit corresponding to aspecific resource in a resource pool which implies a set of series ofresources. In addition, the UE 1 may transmit an SL signal by using theresource unit. For example, a resource pool in which the UE 1 is capableof transmitting a signal may be configured to the UE 2 which is areceiving UE, and the signal of the UE 1 may be detected in the resourcepool.

Herein, if the UE 1 is within a connectivity range of the BS, the BS mayinform the UE 1 of the resource pool. Otherwise, if the UE 1 is out ofthe connectivity range of the BS, another UE may inform the UE 1 of theresource pool, or the UE 1 may use a pre-configured resource pool.

In general, the resource pool may be configured in unit of a pluralityof resources, and each UE may select a unit of one or a plurality ofresources to use it in SL signal transmission thereof.

Hereinafter, resource allocation in SL will be described.

FIGS. 10A and 10B show a procedure of performing V2X or SL communicationby a UE based on a transmission mode in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. The embodiment of FIGS. 10A and 10B may becombined with various embodiments of the present disclosure. In variousembodiments of the present disclosure, the transmission mode may becalled a mode or a resource allocation mode. Hereinafter, forconvenience of explanation, in LTE, the transmission mode may be calledan LTE transmission mode. In NR, the transmission mode may be called anNR resource allocation mode.

For example, FIG. 10A shows a UE operation related to an LTEtransmission mode 1 or an LTE transmission mode 3. Alternatively, forexample, FIG. 10A shows a UE operation related to an NR resourceallocation mode 1. For example, the LTE transmission mode 1 may beapplied to general SL communication, and the LTE transmission mode 3 maybe applied to V2X communication.

For example, FIG. 10B shows a UE operation related to an LTEtransmission mode 2 or an LTE transmission mode 4. Alternatively, forexample, FIG. 10B shows a UE operation related to an NR resourceallocation mode 2.

Referring to FIG. 10A, in the LTE transmission mode 1, the LTEtransmission mode 3, or the NR resource allocation mode 1, a BS mayschedule an SL resource to be used by the UE for SL transmission. Forexample, the BS may perform resource scheduling to a UE 1 through aPDCCH (more specifically, downlink control information (DCI)), and theUE lmay perform V2X or SL communication with respect to a UE 2 accordingto the resource scheduling. For example, the UE 1 may transmit asidelink control information (SCI) to the UE 2 through a physicalsidelink control channel (PSCCH), and thereafter transmit data based onthe SCI to the UE 2 through a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH).

Referring to FIG. 10B, in the LTE transmission mode 2, the LTEtransmission mode 4, or the NR resource allocation mode 2, the UE maydetermine an SL transmission resource within an SL resource configuredby a BS/network or a pre-configured SL resource. For example, theconfigured SL resource or the pre-configured SL resource may be aresource pool. For example, the UE may autonomously select or schedule aresource for SL transmission. For example, the UE may perform SLcommunication by autonomously selecting a resource within a configuredresource pool. For example, the UE may autonomously select a resourcewithin a selective window by performing a sensing and resource(re)selection procedure. For example, the sensing may be performed inunit of subchannels. In addition, the UE 1 which has autonomouslyselected the resource within the resource pool may transmit the SCI tothe UE 2 through a PSCCH, and thereafter may transmit data based on theSCI to the UE 2 through a PSSCH.

FIGS. 11A to 11C show three cast types in accordance with an embodimentof the present disclosure. The embodiment of FIGS. 11A to 11C may becombined with various embodiments of the present disclosure.Specifically, FIG. 11A shows broadcast-type SL communication, FIG. 11Bshows unicast type-SL communication, and FIG. 11C shows groupcast-typeSL communication. In case of the unicast-type SL communication, a UE mayperform one-to-one communication with respect to another UE. In case ofthe groupcast-type SL transmission, the UE may perform SL communicationwith respect to one or more UEs in a group to which the UE belongs. Invarious embodiments of the present disclosure, SL groupcastcommunication may be replaced with SL multicast communication, SLone-to-many communication, or the like.

Meanwhile, in sidelink communication, a UE may need to effectivelyselect a resource for sidelink transmission. Hereinafter, a method inwhich a UE effectively selects a resource for sidelink transmission andan apparatus supporting the method will be described according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure. In various embodiments ofthe present disclosure, the sidelink communication may include V2Xcommunication.

At least one scheme proposed according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure may be applied to at least any one of unicastcommunication, groupcast communication, and/or broadcast communication.

At least one method proposed according to various embodiment of thepresent embodiment may apply not only to sidelink communication or V2Xcommunication based on a PC5 interface or an SL interface (e.g., PSCCH,PSSCH, PSBCH, PSSS/SSSS, or the like) or V2X communication but also tosidelink communication or V2X communication based on a Uu interface(e.g., PUSCH, PDSCH, PDCCH, PUCCH, or the like).

In various embodiments of the present disclosure, a receiving operationof a UE may include a decoding operation and/or receiving operation of asidelink channel and/or sidelink signal (e.g., PSCCH, PSSCH, PSFCH,PSBCH, PSSS/SSSS, or the like). The receiving operation of the UE mayinclude a decoding operation and/or receiving operation of a WAN DLchannel and/or a WAN DL signal (e.g., PDCCH, PDSCH, PSS/SSS, or thelike). The receiving operation of the UE may include a sensing operationand/or a CBR measurement operation. In various embodiments of thepresent disclosure, the sensing operation of the UE may include aPSSCH-RSRP measurement operation based on a PSSCH DM-RS sequence, aPSSCH-RSRP measurement operation based on a PSSCH DM-RS sequencescheduled by a PSCCH successfully decoded by the UE, a sidelink RSSU(S-RSSI) measurement operation, and an S-RSSI measurement operationbased on a V2X resource pool related subchannel. In various embodimentsof the disclosure, a transmitting operation of the UE may include atransmitting operation of a sidelink channel and/or a sidelink signal(e.g., PSCCH, PSSCH, PSFCH, PSBCH, PSSS/SSSS, or the like). Thetransmitting operation of the UE may include a transmitting operation ofa WAN UL channel and/or a WAN UL signal (e.g., PUSCH, PUCCH, SRS, or thelike). In various embodiments of the present disclosure, asynchronization signal may include SLSS and/or PSBCH.

In various embodiments of the present disclosure, a configuration mayinclude signaling, signaling from a network, a configuration from thenetwork, and/or a pre-configuration from the network. In variousembodiments of the present disclosure, a definition may includesignaling, signaling from a network, a configuration form the network,and/or a pre-configuration from the network. In various embodiment ofthe present disclosure, a designation may include signaling, signalingfrom a network, a configuration from the network, and/or apre-configuration from the network.

In various embodiments of the present disclosure, a ProSe per packetpriority (PPPP) may be replaced with a ProSe per packet reliability(PPPR), and the PPPR may be replaced with the PPPP. For example, it maymean that the smaller the PPPP value, the higher the priority, and thatthe greater the PPPP value, the lower the priority. For example, it maymean that the smaller the PPPR value, the higher the reliability, andthat the greater the PPPR value, the lower the reliability. For example,a PPPP value related to a service, packet, or message related to a highpriority may be smaller than a PPPP value related to a service, packet,or message related to a low priority. For example, a PPPR value relatedto a service, packet, or message related to a high reliability may besmaller than a PPPR value related to a service, packet, or messagerelated to a low reliability

In various embodiments of the present disclosure, a session may includeat least any one of a unicast session (e.g., unicast session forsidelink), a groupcast/multicast session (e.g., groupcast/multicastsession for sidelink), and/or a broadcast session (e.g., broadcastsession for sidelink).

In various embodiments of the present disclosure, a carrier may beinterpreted as at least any one of a BWP and/or a resource pool. Forexample, the carrier may include at least any one of the BWP and/or theresource pool. For example, the carrier may include one or more BWPs.For example, the BWP may include one or more resource pools.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of a method in which an apparatus (orUE) performs LTE SL communication based on (NR) downlink controlinformation (DCI) received from a (NR) base station will be describedwith reference to FIG. 12 and FIG. 13.

FIG. 12 shows a process in which a first apparatus performs LTE SLcommunication based on DCI received from an NR base station inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

According to an embodiment, the NR base station (e.g., a gNB) maytransmit DCI to a UE through an NR UU interface in order to support anLTE mode 3 SL operation/scheduling. Here, from the perspective of theUE, for smooth LTE SL communication, it is necessary to exchangeinformation at a high speed between an NR modem/module and an LTEmodem/module of the UE.

The information exchange between the NR modem/module and the LTEmodem/module may include, for example, a process in which when the NRmodem/module forwards DCI information received from the NR base stationto the LTE modem/module, the LTE modem/module performs LTE mode 3 SLscheduling/operation based on the DCI information. Further, theinformation exchange between the NR modem/module and the LTEmodem/module may include a process in which the LTE modem/moduletransmits generated LTE SL traffic-related information to the NRmodem/module, and the NR modem/module transmits supplementaryinformation on the LTE mode 3 SL scheduling/operation (e.g., an LTEtraffic generation period/size, a (related) service priority, or thelike) to the NR base station. Here, the information exchange between theNR modem/module and the LTE modem/module may increase the implementationcomplexity of the UE.

In order to solve the problem related to the implementation complexityof the UE, the following embodiments of the present disclosureillustrate a method for efficiently transmitting information 1234 on LTESL communication (or information on an LTE mode 3 SLoperation/scheduling) through (NR) DCI 1230.

According to an embodiment, the NR base station 1210 may transmitinformation 1234 on LTE SL communication to the UE through signalingbased on the NR UU interface (e.g., an RRC message or DCI). In oneexample, the information 1234 on LTE SL communication may be related toan SL SPS operation/scheduling of LTE mode 3 but is not limited to thisexample. For example, the information 1234 on LTE SL communication maybe related to an SL dynamic operation/scheduling of LTE mode 3.

In an embodiment, the information 1234 on LTE SL communication signaledthrough the DCI 1230 may include at least one of information on resourcescheduling of LTE semi-persistent scheduling (SPS), information onactivation or release (or deactivation) of an SPS process, and/orscheduling information on dynamic transmission. In one example, the DCI1230 may be cross-RAT DCI including the information 1234 on LTE SLcommunication. In one example, the information 1234 on LTE SLcommunication may include content of LTE DCI format 5A (or a DCI 5Afield of LTE-V).

According to an embodiment, the first apparatus 1220 may receive the DCI1230 from the NR base station 1210. In one example, the DCI 1230 may bedelivered from the NR base station 1210 to the first apparatus 1220through a PDCCH. The DCI 1230 may be delivered to an NR module 1222 inthe first apparatus 1220.

According to an embodiment, the first apparatus 1220 may obtain(information on) a first timing offset 1232 based on the DCI 1230. Inone example, the first timing offset may be equal to or greater than aminimum latency 1223 between the NR module 1222 of the first apparatus1220 for new radio (NR) communication and an LTE module 1224 of thefirst apparatus 1220 for long-term evolution (LTE) communication.

In one example, the minimum latency 1223 may indicate the minimum valueof a time interval from the time when the NR module 1222 receives theDCI 1230 from the NR base station 1210 to the time when the LTE module1224 receives LTE DCI, into which the DCI 1230 is converted, from the NRmodule 1222. That is, in this example, the minimum latency 1223 may bethe sum of a processing time for which the DCI 1230 is converted to theLTE DCI and an inter-modem (NR module 1222-LTE module 1224) deliveringtime.

In another example, the minimum latency 1223 may indicate the minimumvalue of a time interval from the time when the NR module 1222 transmitsthe LTE DCI to the LTE module 1224 to the time when the LTE module 1224receives the LTE DCI. That is, in this example, the minimum latency 1223may be the inter-modem (NR module 1222-LTE module 1224) delivering time.

In the present disclosure, the first timing offset may be variouslyreferred to as X ms, DCI TINF, RRC TINF, and the like. The first timingoffset is an NR reference offset based on an NR frame or NR numerologythat the NR base station 1210 transmits to the first apparatus 1220.

In one embodiment, the DCI format of the LTE DCI may be LTE DCI format5A (LTE DCI format 5A).

According to an embodiment, the LTE module 1224 of the first apparatus1220 may perform LTE SL communication (e.g., an LTE SL operation, LTE SLresource allocation, or the like) after a lapse of the first timingoffset and a second timing offset from the time when the NR module 1222receives the DCI 1230. The second timing offset may be included in theinformation 1234 on LTE SL communication of the DCI 1230. The secondtiming offset may be variously referred to as Z ms, SPS TINF, and thelike in the present disclosure. The second timing offset is an LTEreference offset based on LTE, which the NR base station 1210 transmitsto the first apparatus 1220.

In one embodiment, the information 1234 on LTE SL communication mayinclude at least one of information on activation and/or release of LTESL semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) (process), index information onactivated and/released LTE SL SPS (process), or resource schedulinginformation on LTE SL SPS (process) (e.g., information on PSCCH/PSSCH(or initial transmission/retransmission)-related time/frequencyresources, a timing offset (e.g., OFF_INF or m) related to activation ofLTE SL SPS, or the like).

According to an embodiment, the first apparatus 1220 may assume that theLTE module 1224 receives the LTE DCI after a lapse of the first timingoffset from the time when the NR module 1224 receives the DCI 1230.Accordingly, the first apparatus 1220 may add the second timing offset(or Z ms) at the time after a lapse of the first timing offset from thetime when the NR module 1224 receives the DCI 1230. Regarding the secondtiming offset related to the time to determine whether to activate LTESPS, the first apparatus may determine the time to determine whether toactivate the LTE SPS based on the time after a lapse of the first timingoffset and the second timing offset from the time when the NR module1224 receives the DCI 1230. When SPS is activated, the first apparatus1220 may perform an LTE SL SPS operation. The time when the LTE module1224 receives the LTE DCI may be referred to as a time based on RRCTINF, TSL, or the like.

In one embodiment, it may be determined whether to activate the LTE SPSat a time the same as or similar to that in the rule according to theLTE specifications. For example, it may be determined whether toactivate the LTE SPS at the time when it is assumed that the LTE module1224 receives the LTE DCI, which is −N_(TA)/2*Ts+(4+OFF_INF)*10⁻³.Alternatively, it may be determined whether to activate the LTE SPSafter a lapse of the first timing offset from the time when the NRmodule 1224 receives the DCI 1230, that is, at−N_(TA)/2*Ts+(4+OFF_INF)*10⁻³. Alternatively, it may be determinedwhether to activate the LTE SPS at a time based on RRC TINF, which is−N_(TA)/2*Ts+(4+OFF_INF)*10⁻³. Alternatively, it may be determinedwhether to activate the LTE SPS at a time based on X ms, which is−N_(TA)/2*Ts+(4+OFF_INF)*10⁻³. Alternatively, it may be determinedwhether to activate the LTE SPS at‘T_(DL)’−N_(TA)/2*TS+(4+OFF_INF)*10⁻³. Here, N_(TA) and Ts may denote atiming offset between uplink/downlink (UL/DL) radio frames (from theperspective of the UE) and a basic time unit (=10 ms/307200),respectively.

In one embodiment, the LTE SL communication may be based on Table 5below.

TABLE 5 RRC-based activation/deactivation is not supported DCI-basedactivation/deactivation is supported Support of LTE PC5 scheduling by NRUu (mode 3-like) is based on UE capability NR DCI provides the fields ofDCI 5A in LTE-V that are related to SPS scheduling The size of DCI foractivation/deactivation is one of the DCI size(s) that will be definedfor NR Uu scheduling NR V2V FFS whether the DCI format is the same asone of the DCI formats that will be defined for NR Uu scheduling NR V2VActivation/deactivation applies to the first LTE subframe after Z + X msafter receiving the DCI Z is the same timing offset in current LTE V2Xspecs X > 0. FFS value(s) of X, and if one or multiple values of X arepossible

In an embodiment according to Table 5, RRC-based activation/deactivationmay not be supported, whereas DCI-based activation/deactivation may besupported. Support of LTE PC5 scheduling by NR Uu (like mode 3) may bebased on UE capability. NR DCI may provide fields of DCI 5A in LTE-Vthat are related to SPS. The size of DCI for activation/deactivation maybe the same as/similar to one of a DCI size(s) to be defined for NR Uuscheduling NR V2V. As to whether the DCI format is the same as one ofDCI formats to be defined for NR Uu scheduling NR V2V, variousembodiments may exist. Activation/deactivation may apply to a first LTEsubframe after a lapse of Z ms+X ms after receiving DCI. Z may be thesame as a timing offset in the current LTE V2X specifications. X may begreater than 0 and may have various values. One or a plurality of valuesof X may be possible.

In one embodiment, the following operations may be performed in order toactivate and/or deactivate LTE SL-configured grant type-2 resources byNR DCI. In one example, a receiver (or receiving UE) may include both anNR (SL) module and an LTE (SL) module. First, the NR module may receiveNR DCI transmitted from a gNB. Next, the NR module may convert the NRDCI into LTE DCI format 5A (or LTE DCI) for scheduling LTE SL-configuredgrant type-2 resources. The NR module may deliver converted LTE DCIformat 5A to the LTE module. After LTE DCI format 5A is delivered to theLTE module, even though LTE DCI format 5A is delivered from the NRmodule, the LTE module may consider that LTE DCI format 5A is deliveredfrom an eNB. After a lapse of a (pre)configured timing offset, the LTEmodule may perform an LTE SL operation by applying activation/release ofrelated resources.

In one embodiment, the NR module may convert the NR DCI into LTE DCIformat 5A and may deliver LTE DCI format 5A to the LTE module after alapse of X ms from the time when the NR DCI is received from the gNB.The LTE module may apply activation/release (of LTE SPS) in a first(entire) LTE subframe detected after a lapse of Z ms from the time whenLTE DCI format 5A is received from the NR module.

In one embodiment, Z ms may be simply expressed as a timing offsetapplied to the LTE module, and X ms may be simply expressed as a timingoffset considering the time to switch a DCI format and a communicationlatency between the NR module and the LTE module.

In one example, there may be the minimum value of X that satisfies allUE implementations. The gNB may select/configure an X value greater thanthe minimum value of X, and thus signaling/reporting required tocheck/confirm a specific UE capability may not be necessary. An X valuemay be selected/configured by the gNB among a plurality of possiblevalues.

In one embodiment, the base station may transmit information on an(candidate) X value (e.g., information on the number of (candidate) Xvalues) to the UE through predefined (physical-layer and/orhigher-layer) signaling. In one example, the size of a related field ofthe NR DCI (e.g., CEILING (LOG2 (X_NUM)) bits, where CEILING (A) is afunction to derive an integer value equal to or greater than A) may be(implicitly) determined according to the number of (candidate) X values(X_NUM). In another example, the capability of the UE may support one(or some) of a plurality of (candidate) X values (supported in thespecifications), and the base station may receive capability informationon the UE from the UE through predefined (physical-layer and/orhigher-layer) signaling. For example, upon receiving the capabilityinformation on the UE from the UE, the base station may signal only an Xvalue (and/or the number of X values) that the UE can support (amongfixed X values defined in the specifications (and/or the number of fixedX values defined in the specifications)).

FIG. 13 shows a process in which a first apparatus and a secondapparatus perform LTE SL communication in accordance with an embodimentof the present disclosure.

Since a method in which an NR base station 1210 configures (1240) aresource for LTE SL communication of the first device 1220 through DCI1230 has been illustrated in detail in FIG. 12, a redundant descriptionis omitted in FIG. 13.

Referring to FIG. 13, an LTE base station 1310 (e.g., eNB) according toan embodiment may control LTE SL communication 1340 of the secondapparatus 1320 through LTE (dedicated) DCI 1330. Specifically, the LTEbase station 1310 may deliver the LTE (dedicated) DCI 1330 to an LTEmodule 1332 of the second apparatus 1320, and the LTE module 1332 mayperform LTE SL communication 1340.

In one embodiment, the LTE (dedicated) DCI 1330 is not based oncross-RAT DCI and may thus be referred to as LTE-dedicated DCI 1330 tobe distinguished from LTE SL DCI derived based on cross-RAT DCI 1230. Asecond timing offset 1242 determined by an LTE module 1224 of the firstapparatus 1220 based on information 1234 on LTE SL communication of theDCI 1230 may be the same as or similar to a second timing offset 1342determined by the LTE module 1332 of the second apparatus 1320 based onthe LTE-dedicated DCI 1330.

In one embodiment, the LTE module 1224 of the first apparatus 1220 maynot only receive the LTE SL DCI, converted based on the DCI 1230, fromthe NR base station 1210 but may also receive the LTE (dedicated) DCI1330 from the LTE base station 1310. The second timing offset 1242 (or Zms) derived by the LTE module 1224 based on the DCI 1230 may be the sameas the second timing offset 1342 (or Z ms) derived by the LTE module1332 based on the LTE (dedicated) DCI 1330.

According to an embodiment, the LTE module 1224 of the first apparatus1220 may perform LTE SL communication 1244 at the time when the secondtiming offset 1242 is applied.

In one example, the LTE module 1224 of the first apparatus 1220 maydetermine (or judge) whether SPS is activated at the time when thesecond timing offset 1242 is applied. The LTE module 1224 may apply LTESPS based on the determination that the LTE SPS is activated.Alternatively, the LTE module 1224 may apply scheduling other than theLTE SPS based on the determination that the LTE SPS is deactivated.

According to an embodiment, the LTE module 1332 of the second apparatus1320 may perform LTE SL communication 1344 at the time when the secondtiming offset 1342 is applied.

In one example, the LTE module 1332 of the second apparatus 1320 maydetermine (or judge) whether LTE SPS is activated at the time when thesecond timing offset 1342 is applied. The LTE module 1332 may apply LTESPS based on the determination that the LTE SPS has been activated.Alternatively, the LTE module 1332 may apply scheduling other than theLTE SPS based on the determination that the LTE SPS has beendeactivated.

In one embodiment, the LTE SL communication 1244 by the LTE module 1224of the first apparatus 1220 may be the same as or similar to the LTE SLcommunication 1344 by the LTE module 1332 of the second apparatus 1320in terms of resource configuration, resource location, and resourceallocation length.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a first apparatusin accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Operations disclosed in the flowchart of FIG. 14 may be performed incombination with various embodiments of the present disclosure. In oneexample, the operations disclosed in the flowchart of FIG. 14 may beperformed based on at least one of the devices illustrated in FIG. 16 toFIG. 21. In another example, the operations disclosed in the flowchartof FIG. 14 may be performed in combination with the individualoperations of the embodiments disclosed in FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 byvarious methods.

In one example, the first apparatus and/or a second apparatus of FIG. 14may correspond to a first wireless device 100 of FIG. 17 describedbelow. In another example, the first apparatus and/or the secondapparatus of FIG. 14 may correspond to a second wireless device 200 ofFIG. 17 described below. In still another example, the first apparatusof FIG. 14 may correspond to the first apparatus (or first UE) 1220described above with reference to FIG. 12 and FIG. 13. In yet anotherexample, the second apparatus of FIG. 14 may correspond to the secondapparatus (or second UE) 1320 described above with reference to FIG. 12and FIG. 13. In still another example, a base station or an NR basestation of FIG. 14 may correspond to the NR base station 1210 describedabove with reference to FIG. 12 and FIG. 13. In yet another example, anLTE base station of FIG. 14 may correspond to the LTE base station 1310described above with reference to FIG. 12 and FIG. 13.

In operation S1410, the first apparatus according to an embodiment mayreceive downlink control information (DCI) from the NR base stationthrough a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

In operation S1420, the first apparatus according to an embodiment mayobtain a first timing offset based on the DCI.

In operation S1430, the first apparatus according to an embodiment mayperform LTE SL communication based on the first timing offset.

In one embodiment, the minimum value of the first timing offset may bedetermined based on a minimum latency between an NR module for new radio(NR) communication and an LTE module for LTE communication of the firstapparatus.

In one embodiment, the minimum latency may indicate the minimum value ofa time interval from the time when the DCI is received by the NR moduleto the time when the DCI is converted into LTE SL DCI by the firstapparatus and the LTE SL DCI is transmitted by the first apparatus andis received by the LTE module.

In one embodiment, the minimum latency may be based on apparatuscapability of the first apparatus.

The first apparatus according to an embodiment may transmit informationon the minimum latency to the NR base station.

In one embodiment, the first timing offset may be equal to or greaterthan the minimum latency.

In one embodiment, the LTE SL communication may be performed based oninformation on LTE SL communication included in the DCI.

In one embodiment, the information on the LTE SL communication mayinclude a second timing offset related to the LTE SL communication. Thesecond timing offset may be added at the time after a lapse of the firsttiming offset from the time when the NR module receives the DCI as astarting point.

In one embodiment, the second timing offset may be a timing offsetrelated to activation of LTE semi-persistent scheduling (SPS).

The first apparatus according to an embodiment may determine the time todetermine whether to activate the LTE SPS based on the time after alapse of the first timing offset and the second timing offset from thetime when the NR module receives the DCI. Also, the first apparatus maydetermine whether to activate the LTE SPS at the time to determinewhether to activate the LTE SPS.

The first apparatus according to an embodiment may determine an LTE SLresource related to the LTE SPS based on the determination that the LTESPS is activated.

The first apparatus according to an embodiment may determine an LTE SLresource to which the LTE SPS is not applied based on the determinationthat the LTE SPS is deactivated.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there may beprovided a first apparatus for performing sidelink (SL) communicationthrough downlink control information (DCI). The first apparatus mayinclude at least one memory to store instructions, at least onetransceiver, and at least one processor to connect the at least onememory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least oneprocessor may control the at least one transceiver to receive downlinkcontrol information (DCI) from an NR base station through a physicaldownlink control channel (PDCCH), may obtain a first timing offset basedon the DCI, and may perform LTE SL communication based on the firsttiming offset, and the minimum value of the first timing offset may bedetermined based on the minimum latency between an NR module for NRcommunication and an LTE module for LTE communication of the firstapparatus.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there may beprovided an apparatus (or chip (set)) for controlling a first UE. Theapparatus may include at least one processor and at least one computermemory that is connected to be executable by the at least one processorand stores instructions, wherein, when the at least one processorexecutes the instructions, the first UE may receive downlink controlinformation (DCI) from an NR base station through a physical downlinkcontrol channel (PDCCH), may obtain a first timing offset based on theDCI, and may perform LTE SL communication based on the first timingoffset, and wherein the minimum value of the first timing offset may bedetermined based on the minimum latency between an NR module for NRcommunication and an LTE module for LTE communication of the first UE.

In one example, the first UE of the embodiment may indicate the firstapparatus described throughout the present disclosure. In one example,each of the at least one processor, the at least one memory, and thelike in the apparatus for controlling the first UE may be configured asa separate sub-chip, or at least two components thereof may beconfigured through a single sub-chip.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there may beprovided a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that storesinstructions (or indications). When the instructions are executed by atleast one processor of the non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium, downlink control information (DCI) may be received by a firstapparatus from an NR base station through a physical downlink controlchannel (PDCCH), a first timing offset may be obtained by the firstapparatus based on the DCI, and LTE SL communication may be performed bythe first apparatus based on the first timing offset, and the minimumvalue of the first timing offset may be determined based on the minimumlatency between an NR module for NR communication and an LTE module forLTE communication of the first apparatus.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of an NR base stationin accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Operations disclosed in the flowchart of FIG. 15 may be performed incombination with various embodiments of the present disclosure. In oneexample, the operations disclosed in the flowchart of FIG. 15 may beperformed based on at least one of the devices illustrated in FIG. 16 toFIG. 21. In another example, the operations disclosed in the flowchartof FIG. 15 may be performed in combination with the individualoperations of the embodiments disclosed in FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 byvarious methods.

In one example, a (NR) base station or an LTE base station of FIG. 15may correspond to the BS of FIG. 9 described above. In another example,a first apparatus of FIG. 15 may correspond to the first apparatus (orfirst UE) 1220 described above with reference to FIG. 12 and FIG. 13. Instill another example, a second apparatus of FIG. 15 may correspond tothe second apparatus (or second UE) 1320 described above with referenceto FIG. 12 and FIG. 13. In yet another example, the base station or theNR base station of FIG. 15 may correspond to the NR base station 1210described above with reference to FIG. 12 and FIG. 13. In still anotherexample, the LTE base station of FIG. 15 may correspond to the LTE basestation 1310 described above with reference to FIG. 12 and FIG. 13.

In operation S1510, the NR base station according to an embodiment maydetermine DCI including a first timing offset.

In operation S1520, the NR base station according to an embodiment maytransmit the DCI to the first apparatus through a physical downlinkcontrol channel (PDCCH).

In one embodiment, the first timing offset may be used when the firstapparatus performs LTE SL communication. The minimum value of the firsttiming offset may be determined based on a minimum latency between an NRmodule for NR communication and an LTE module for LTE communication ofthe first apparatus.

In one embodiment, the minimum latency may indicate the minimum value ofa time interval from the time when the DCI is received by the NR moduleto the time when the DCI is converted into LTE SL DCI by the firstapparatus and the LTE SL DCI is transmitted by the first apparatus andis received by the LTE module.

In one embodiment, the minimum latency may be based on apparatuscapability of the first apparatus.

The first apparatus according to an embodiment may transmit informationon the minimum latency to the NR base station.

In one embodiment, the first timing offset may be equal to or greaterthan the minimum latency.

In one embodiment, the LTE SL communication may be performed based oninformation on LTE SL communication included in the DCI.

In one embodiment, the information on the LTE SL communication mayinclude a second timing offset related to the LTE SL communication. Thesecond timing offset may be added at the time after a lapse of the firsttiming offset from the time when the NR module receives the DCI as astarting point.

In one embodiment, the second timing offset may be a timing offsetrelated to activation of LTE semi-persistent scheduling (SPS).

The first apparatus according to an embodiment may determine the time todetermine whether to activate the LTE SPS based on the time after alapse of the first timing offset and the second timing offset from thetime when the NR module receives the DCI. Also, the first apparatus maydetermine whether to activate the LTE SPS at the time to determinewhether to activate the LTE SPS.

The first apparatus according to an embodiment may determine an LTE SLresource related to the LTE SPS based on the determination that the LTESPS is activated.

The first apparatus according to an embodiment may determine an LTE SLresource to which the LTE SPS is not applied based on the determinationthat the LTE SPS is deactivated.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there may beprovided an NR base station for controlling SL communication of a firstapparatus through downlink control information (DCI). The NR basestation may include at least one memory to store instructions, at leastone transceiver, and at least one processor to connect the at least onememory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least oneprocessor may determine DCI including a first timing offset and maycontrol the at least one transceiver to transmit the DCI to the firstapparatus through a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), the firsttiming offset may be used when the first apparatus performs LTE SLcommunication, and the minimum value of the first timing offset may bedetermined based on a minimum latency between an NR module for NRcommunication and an LTE module for LTE communication of the firstapparatus.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure may be independentlyimplemented. Alternatively, the various embodiments of the presentdisclosure may be implemented by being combined or merged. For example,although the various embodiments of the present disclosure have beendescribed based on the 3GPP LTE system for convenience of explanation,the various embodiments of the present disclosure may also be extendedlyapplied to another system other than the 3GPP LTE system. For example,the various embodiments of the present disclosure may also be used in anuplink or downlink case without being limited only to directcommunication between terminals. In this case, a base station, a relaynode, or the like may use the proposed method according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure. For example, it may be definedthat information on whether to apply the method according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure is reported by the base station tothe terminal or by a transmitting terminal to a receiving terminalthrough pre-defined signaling (e.g., physical layer signaling or higherlayer signaling). For example, it may be defined that information on arule according to various embodiments of the present disclosure isreported by the base station to the terminal or by a transmittingterminal to a receiving terminal through pre-defined signaling (e.g.,physical layer signaling or higher layer signaling). For example, someembodiments among various embodiments of the present disclosure may beapplied limitedly only to a resource allocation mode 1. For example,some embodiments among various embodiments of the present disclosure maybe applied limitedly only to a resource allocation mode 2.

Hereinafter, an apparatus to which various embodiments of the presentdisclosure can be applied will be described.

The various descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods,and/or operational flowcharts of the present disclosure described inthis document may be applied to, without being limited to, a variety offields requiring wireless communication/connection (e.g., 5G) betweendevices.

Hereinafter, a description will be given in more detail with referenceto the drawings. In the following drawings/description, the samereference symbols may denote the same or corresponding hardware blocks,software blocks, or functional blocks unless described otherwise.

FIG. 16 shows a communication system 1 in accordance with an embodimentof the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 16, a communication system 1 to which variousembodiments of the present disclosure are applied includes wirelessdevices, Base Stations (BSs), and a network. Herein, the wirelessdevices represent devices performing communication using radio accesstechnology (RAT) (e.g., 5G new rat (NR)) or long-term evolution (LTE))and may be referred to as communication/radio/5G devices. The wirelessdevices may include, without being limited to, a robot 100 a, vehicles100 b-1 and 100 b-2, an extended reality (XR) device 100 c, a hand-helddevice 100 d, a home appliance 100 e, an Internet of things (IoT) device100 f, and an Artificial Intelligence (AI) device/server 400. Forexample, the vehicles may include a vehicle having a wirelesscommunication function, an autonomous vehicle, and a vehicle capable ofperforming communication between vehicles. Herein, the vehicles mayinclude an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) (e.g., a drone). The XR devicemay include an augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR)/Mixed Reality(MR) device and may be implemented in the form of a head-mounted device(HMD), a head-up display (HUD) mounted in a vehicle, a television, asmartphone, a computer, a wearable device, a home appliance device, adigital signage, a vehicle, a robot, or the like The hand-held devicemay include a smartphone, a smartpad, a wearable device (e.g., asmartwatch or a smartglasses), and a computer (e.g., a notebook). Thehome appliance may include a TV, a refrigerator, and a washing machine.The IoT device may include a sensor and a smartmeter. For example, theBSs and the network may be implemented as wireless devices and aspecific wireless device 200 a may operate as a B S/network node withrespect to other wireless devices.

The wireless devices 100 a to 100 f may be connected to the network 300via the BSs 200. An AI technology may be applied to the wireless devices100 a to 100 f and the wireless devices 100 a to 100 f may be connectedto the AI server 400 via the network 300. The network 300 may beconfigured using a 3G network, a 4G (e.g., LTE) network, or a 5G (e.g.,NR) network. Although the wireless devices 100 a to 100 f maycommunicate with each other through the BSs 200/network 300, thewireless devices 100 a to 100 f may perform direct communication (e.g.,sidelink communication) with each other without passing through theBSs/network. For example, the vehicles 100 b-1 and 100 b-2 may performdirect communication (e.g., vehicle-to-vehicle(V2V)/vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication). The IoT device (e.g.,a sensor) may perform direct communication with other IoT devices (e.g.,sensors) or other wireless devices 100 a to 100 f.

Wireless communication/connections 150 a, 150 b, or 150 c may beestablished between the wireless devices 100 a to 100 f/BS 200, or BS200/BS 200. Herein, the wireless communication/connections may beestablished through various RATs (e.g., 5G NR) such as uplink/downlinkcommunication 150 a, sidelink communication 150 b (or, D2Dcommunication), or inter BS communication (e.g., relay, IntegratedAccess Backhaul (IAB)). The wireless devices and the BSs/the wirelessdevices may transmit/receive radio signals to/from each other throughthe wireless communication/connections 150 a and 150 b. For example, thewireless communication/connections 150 a and 150 b may transmit/receivesignals through various physical channels. To this end, at least a partof various configuration information configuring processes, varioussignal processing processes (e.g., channel encoding/decoding,modulation/demodulation, and resource mapping/demapping), and resourceallocating processes, for transmitting/receiving radio signals, may beperformed based on the various proposals of the present disclosure.

FIG. 17 shows wireless devices in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 17, a first wireless device 100 and a second wirelessdevice 200 may transmit radio signals through a variety of RATs (e.g.,LTE and NR). Herein, {the first wireless device 100 and the secondwireless device 200} may correspond to {the wireless device 100 x andthe BS 200} and/or {the wireless device 100 x and the wireless device100 x} of FIG. 16.

The first wireless device 100 may include one or more processors 102 andone or more memories 104 and additionally further include one or moretransceivers 106 and/or one or more antennas 108. The processor(s) 102may control the memory(s) 104 and/or the transceiver(s) 106 and may beconfigured to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures,proposals, methods, and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in thisdocument. For example, the processor(s) 102 may process informationwithin the memory(s) 104 to generate first information/signals and thentransmit radio signals including the first information/signals throughthe transceiver(s) 106. The processor(s) 102 may receive radio signalsincluding second information/signals through the transceiver 106 andthen store information obtained by processing the secondinformation/signals in the memory(s) 104. The memory(s) 104 may beconnected to the processor(s) 102 and may store a variety of informationrelated to operations of the processor(s) 102. For example, thememory(s) 104 may store software code including commands for performinga part or the entirety of processes controlled by the processor(s) 102or for performing the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals,methods, and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in this document.Herein, the processor(s) 102 and the memory(s) 104 may be a part of acommunication modem/circuit/chip designed to implement RAT (e.g., LTE orNR). The transceiver(s) 106 may be connected to the processor(s) 102 andtransmit and/or receive radio signals through one or more antennas 108.Each of the transceiver(s) 106 may include a transmitter and/or areceiver. The transceiver(s) 106 may be interchangeably used with RadioFrequency (RF) unit(s). In the present disclosure, the wireless devicemay represent a communication modem/circuit/chip.

The second wireless device 200 may include one or more processors 202and one or more memories 204 and additionally further include one ormore transceivers 206 and/or one or more antennas 208. The processor(s)202 may control the memory(s) 204 and/or the transceiver(s) 206 and maybe configured to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures,proposals, methods, and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in thisdocument. For example, the processor(s) 202 may process informationwithin the memory(s) 204 to generate third information/signals and thentransmit radio signals including the third information/signals throughthe transceiver(s) 206. The processor(s) 202 may receive radio signalsincluding fourth information/signals through the transceiver(s) 106 andthen store information obtained by processing the fourthinformation/signals in the memory(s) 204. The memory(s) 204 may beconnected to the processor(s) 202 and may store a variety of informationrelated to operations of the processor(s) 202. For example, thememory(s) 204 may store software code including commands for performinga part or the entirety of processes controlled by the processor(s) 202or for performing the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals,methods, and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in this document.Herein, the processor(s) 202 and the memory(s) 204 may be a part of acommunication modem/circuit/chip designed to implement RAT (e.g., LTE orNR). The transceiver(s) 206 may be connected to the processor(s) 202 andtransmit and/or receive radio signals through one or more antennas 208.Each of the transceiver(s) 206 may include a transmitter and/or areceiver. The transceiver(s) 206 may be interchangeably used with RFunit(s). In the present disclosure, the wireless device may represent acommunication modem/circuit/chip.

Hereinafter, hardware elements of the wireless devices 100 and 200 willbe described more specifically. One or more protocol layers may beimplemented by, without being limited to, one or more processors 102 and202. For example, the one or more processors 102 and 202 may implementone or more layers (e.g., functional layers such as PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP,RRC, and SDAP). The one or more processors 102 and 202 may generate oneor more protocol data units (PDUs) and/or one or more Service Data Unit(SDUs) according to the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals,methods, and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in this document. Theone or more processors 102 and 202 may generate messages, controlinformation, data, or information according to the descriptions,functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and/or operational flowchartsdisclosed in this document. The one or more processors 102 and 202 maygenerate signals (e.g., baseband signals) including PDUs, SDUs,messages, control information, data, or information according to thedescriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and/oroperational flowcharts disclosed in this document and provide thegenerated signals to the one or more transceivers 106 and 206. The oneor more processors 102 and 202 may receive the signals (e.g., basebandsignals) from the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 and acquire thePDUs, SDUs, messages, control information, data, or informationaccording to the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals,methods, and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in this document.

The one or more processors 102 and 202 may be referred to ascontrollers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, or microcomputers. Theone or more processors 102 and 202 may be implemented by hardware,firmware, software, or a combination thereof. As an example, one or moreapplication-specific integrated Circuits (ASICs), one or more digitalsignal processors (DSPs), one or more digital signal processing devices(DSPDs), one or more programmable logic devices (PLDs), or one or morefield programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) may be included in the one ormore processors 102 and 202. The descriptions, functions, procedures,proposals, methods, and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in thisdocument may be implemented using firmware or software and the firmwareor software may be configured to include the modules, procedures, orfunctions. Firmware or software configured to perform the descriptions,functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and/or operational flowchartsdisclosed in this document may be included in the one or more processors102 and 202 or stored in the one or more memories 104 and 204 so as tobe driven by the one or more processors 102 and 202. The descriptions,functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and/or operational flowchartsdisclosed in this document may be implemented using firmware or softwarein the form of code, commands, and/or a set of commands.

The one or more memories 104 and 204 may be connected to the one or moreprocessors 102 and 202 and store various types of data, signals,messages, information, programs, code, instructions, and/or commands.The one or more memories 104 and 204 may be configured by read-onlymemories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memories (EPROMs), flash memories, hard drives,registers, cash memories, computer-readable storage media, and/orcombinations thereof. The one or more memories 104 and 204 may belocated at the interior and/or exterior of the one or more processors102 and 202. The one or more memories 104 and 204 may be connected tothe one or more processors 102 and 202 through various technologies suchas wired or wireless connection.

The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may transmit user data, controlinformation, and/or radio signals/channels, mentioned in the methodsand/or operational flowcharts of this document, to one or more otherapparatuses. The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may receive userdata, control information, and/or radio signals/channels, mentioned inthe descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and/oroperational flowcharts disclosed in this document, from one or moreother apparatuses. For example, the one or more transceivers 106 and 206may be connected to the one or more processors 102 and 202 and transmitand receive radio signals. For example, the one or more processors 102and 202 may perform control so that the one or more transceivers 106 and206 may transmit user data, control information, or radio signals to oneor more other apparatuses. In addition, the one or more processors 102and 202 may perform control so that the one or more transceivers 106 and206 may receive user data, control information, or radio signals fromone or more other apparatuses. In addition, the one or more transceivers106 and 206 may be connected to the one or more antennas 108 and 208 andthe one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may be configured to transmitand receive user data, control information, and/or radiosignals/channels, mentioned in the descriptions, functions, procedures,proposals, methods, and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in thisdocument, through the one or more antennas 108 and 208. In thisdocument, the one or more antennas may be a plurality of physicalantennas or a plurality of logical antennas (e.g., antenna ports). Theone or more transceivers 106 and 206 may convert received radiosignals/channels or the like from RF band signals into baseband signalsin order to process received user data, control information, radiosignals/channels, or the like using the one or more processors 102 and202. The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may convert the user data,control information, radio signals/channels, or the like processed usingthe one or more processors 102 and 202 from the base band signals intothe RF band signals. To this end, the one or more transceivers 106 and206 may include (analog) oscillators and/or filters.

FIG. 18 shows a signal process circuit for a transmission signal inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 18, a signal processing circuit 1000 may includescramblers 1010, modulators 1020, a layer mapper 1030, a precoder 1040,resource mappers 1050, and signal generators 1060. An operation/functionof FIG. 18 may be performed by, without being limited to, the processors102 and 202 and/or the transceivers 106 and 206 of FIG. 17. Hardwareelements of FIG. 18 may be implemented by the processors 102 and 202and/or the transceivers 106 and 206 of FIG. 17. For example, blocks 1010to 1060 may be implemented by the processors 102 and 202 of FIG. 17.Alternatively, the blocks 1010 to 1050 may be implemented by theprocessors 102 and 202 of FIG. 17 and the block 1060 may be implementedby the transceivers 106 and 206 of FIG. 17.

Codewords may be converted into radio signals via the signal processingcircuit 1000 of FIG. 18. Herein, the codewords are encoded bit sequencesof information blocks. The information blocks may include transportblocks (e.g., a UL-SCH transport block, a DL-SCH transport block). Theradio signals may be transmitted through various physical channels(e.g., a PUSCH and a PDSCH).

Specifically, the codewords may be converted into scrambled bitsequences by the scramblers 1010. Scramble sequences used for scramblingmay be generated based on an initialization value, and theinitialization value may include ID information of a wireless device.The scrambled bit sequences may be modulated to modulation symbolsequences by the modulators 1020. A modulation scheme may includepi/2-binary phase shift keying (pi/2-BPSK), m-phase shift keying(m-PSK), and m-quadrature amplitude modulation (m-QAM). Complexmodulation symbol sequences may be mapped to one or more transportlayers by the layer mapper 1030. Modulation symbols of each transportlayer may be mapped (precoded) to corresponding antenna port(s) by theprecoder 1040. Outputs z of the precoder 1040 may be obtained bymultiplying outputs y of the layer mapper 1030 by an N*M precodingmatrix W. Herein, N is the number of antenna ports and M is the numberof transport layers. The precoder 1040 may perform precoding afterperforming transform precoding (e.g., DFT) for complex modulationsymbols. Alternatively, the precoder 1040 may perform precoding withoutperforming transform precoding.

The resource mappers 1050 may map modulation symbols of each antennaport to time-frequency resources. The time-frequency resources mayinclude a plurality of symbols (e.g., a CP-OFDMA symbols and DFT-s-OFDMAsymbols) in the time domain and a plurality of subcarriers in thefrequency domain. The signal generators 1060 may generate radio signalsfrom the mapped modulation symbols and the generated radio signals maybe transmitted to other devices through each antenna. For this purpose,the signal generators 1060 may include inverse fast Fourier transform(IFFT) modules, cyclic prefix (CP) inserters, digital-to-analogconverters (DACs), and frequency up-converters.

Signal processing procedures for a signal received in the wirelessdevice may be configured in a reverse manner of the signal processingprocedures 1010 to 1060 of FIG. 18. For example, the wireless devices(e.g., 100 and 200 of FIG. 17) may receive radio signals from theexterior through the antenna ports/transceivers. The received radiosignals may be converted into baseband signals through signal restorers.To this end, the signal restorers may include frequency downlinkconverters, analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), CP remover, and fastFourier transform (FFT) modules. Next, the baseband signals may berestored to codewords through a resource demapping procedure, apostcoding procedure, a demodulation processor, and a descramblingprocedure. The codewords may be restored to original information blocksthrough decoding. Therefore, a signal processing circuit (notillustrated) for a reception signal may include signal restorers,resource demappers, a postcoder, demodulators, descramblers, anddecoders.

FIG. 19 shows a wireless device in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. The wireless device may be implemented in variousforms according to a use-case/service (see FIG. 16).

Referring to FIG. 19, wireless devices 100 and 200 may correspond to thewireless devices 100 and 200 of FIG. 17 and may be configured by variouselements, components, units/portions, and/or modules. For example, eachof the wireless devices 100 and 200 may include a communication unit110, a control unit 120, a memory unit 130, and additional components140. The communication unit may include a communication circuit 112 andtransceiver(s) 114. For example, the communication circuit 112 mayinclude the one or more processors 102 and 202 and/or the one or morememories 104 and 204 of FIG. 17. For example, the transceiver(s) 114 mayinclude the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 and/or the one or moreantennas 108 and 208 of FIG. 17. The control unit 120 is electricallyconnected to the communication unit 110, the memory 130, and theadditional components 140 and controls overall operation of the wirelessdevices. For example, the control unit 120 may control anelectric/mechanical operation of the wireless device based onprograms/code/commands/information stored in the memory unit 130. Inaddition, the control unit 120 may transmit the information stored inthe memory unit 130 to the exterior (e.g., other communication devices)via the communication unit 110 through a wireless/wired interface orstore, in the memory unit 130, information received through thewireless/wired interface from the exterior (e.g., other communicationdevices) via the communication unit 110.

The additional components 140 may be variously configured according totypes of wireless devices. For example, the additional components 140may include at least one of a power unit/battery, input/output (I/O)unit, a driving unit, and a computing unit. The wireless device may beimplemented in the form of, without being limited to, the robot (100 aof FIG. 16), the vehicles (100 b-1 and 100 b-2 of FIG. 16), the XRdevice (100 c of FIG. 16), the hand-held device (100 d of FIG. 16), thehome appliance (100 e of FIG. 16), the IoT device (100 f of FIG. 16), adigital broadcast terminal, a hologram device, a public safety device,an MTC device, a medicine device, a fintech device (or a financedevice), a security device, a climate/environment device, the AIserver/device (400 of FIG. 16), the B Ss (200 of FIG. 16), a networknode, or the like The wireless device may be used in a mobile or fixedplace according to a use-example/service.

In FIG. 19, the entirety of the various elements, components,units/portions, and/or modules in the wireless devices 100 and 200 maybe connected to each other through a wired interface or at least a partthereof may be wirelessly connected through the communication unit 110.For example, in each of the wireless devices 100 and 200, the controlunit 120 and the communication unit 110 may be connected by wire and thecontrol unit 120 and first units (e.g., 130 and 140) may be wirelesslyconnected through the communication unit 110. Each element, component,unit/portion, and/or module within the wireless devices 100 and 200 mayfurther include one or more elements. For example, the control unit 120may be configured by a set of one or more processors. As an example, thecontrol unit 120 may be configured by a set of a communication controlprocessor, an application processor, an electronic control unit (ECU), agraphical processing unit, and a memory control processor. As anotherexample, the memory 130 may be configured by a random access memory(RAM), a dynamic RAM (DRAM), a read-only memory (ROM)), a flash memory,a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory, and/or a combination thereof.

Hereinafter, an example of implementing FIG. 19 will be described indetail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 20 shows a hand-held device in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. The hand-held device may include a smartphone, asmartpad, a wearable device (e.g., a smartwatch or a smartglasses), or aportable computer (e.g., a notebook). The hand-held device may bereferred to as a Mobile Station (MS), a User Terminal (UT), a MobileSubscriber Station (MSS), a Subscriber Station (SS), an Advanced MobileStation (AMS), or a Wireless Terminal (WT).

Referring to FIG. 20, a hand-held device 100 may include an antenna unit108, a communication unit 110, a control unit 120, a memory unit 130, apower supply unit 140 a, an interface unit 140 b, and an I/O unit 140 c.The antenna unit 108 may be configured as a part of the communicationunit 110. Blocks 110 to 130/140 a to 140 c correspond to the blocks 110to 130/140 of FIG. X3, respectively.

The communication unit 110 may transmit and receive signals (e.g., dataand control signals) to and from other wireless devices or BSs. Thecontrol unit 120 may perform various operations by controllingconstituent elements of the hand-held device 100. The control unit 120may include an application processor (AP). The memory unit 130 may storedata/parameters/programs/code/commands needed to drive the hand-helddevice 100. In addition, the memory unit 130 may store input/outputdata/information. The power supply unit 140 a may supply power to thehand-held device 100 and include a wired/wireless charging circuit, abattery, or the like. The interface unit 140 b may support connection ofthe hand-held device 100 to other external devices. The interface unit140 b may include various ports (e.g., an audio I/O port and a video I/Oport) for connection with external devices. The I/O unit 140 c may inputor output video information/signals, audio information/signals, data,and/or information input by a user. The I/O unit 140 c may include acamera, a microphone, a user input unit, a display unit 140 d, aspeaker, and/or a haptic module.

As an example, in the case of data communication, the I/O unit 140 c mayacquire information/signals (e.g., touch, text, voice, images, or video)input by a user and the acquired information/signals may be stored inthe memory unit 130. The communication unit 110 may convert theinformation/signals stored in the memory into radio signals and transmitthe converted radio signals to other wireless devices directly or to aBS. The communication unit 110 may receive radio signals from otherwireless devices or the BS and then restore the received radio signalsinto original information/signals. The restored information/signals maybe stored in the memory unit 130 and may be output as various types(e.g., text, voice, images, video, or haptic) through the I/O unit 140c.

FIG. 21 shows a car or an autonomous vehicle in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The car or autonomous vehicle maybe implemented by a mobile robot, a car, a train, a manned/unmannedaerial vehicle (AV), a ship, or the like

Referring to FIG. 21, a car or autonomous vehicle 100 may include anantenna unit 108, a communication unit 110, a control unit 120, adriving unit 140 a, a power supply unit 140 b, a sensor unit 140 c, andan autonomous driving unit 140 d. The antenna unit 108 may be configuredas a part of the communication unit 110. The blocks 110/130/140 a to 140d correspond to the blocks 110/130/140 of FIG. 19, respectively.

The communication unit 110 may transmit and receive signals (e.g., dataand control signals) to and from external devices such as othervehicles, BSs (e.g., gNBs and road side units), and servers. The controlunit 120 may perform various operations by controlling elements of thevehicle or the autonomous vehicle 100. The control unit 120 may includean electronic control unit (ECU). The driving unit 140 a may cause thevehicle or the autonomous vehicle 100 to drive on a road. The drivingunit 140 a may include an engine, a motor, a powertrain, a wheel, abrake, a steering device, or the like The power supply unit 140 b maysupply power to the vehicle or the autonomous vehicle 100 and include awired/wireless charging circuit, a battery, or the like The sensor unit140 c may acquire a vehicle state, ambient environment information, userinformation, or the like The sensor unit 140 c may include an inertialmeasurement unit (IMU) sensor, a collision sensor, a wheel sensor, aspeed sensor, a slope sensor, a weight sensor, a heading sensor, aposition module, a vehicle forward/backward sensor, a battery sensor, afuel sensor, a tire sensor, a steering sensor, a temperature sensor, ahumidity sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, an illumination sensor, a pedalposition sensor, or the like The autonomous driving unit 140 d mayimplement technology for maintaining a lane on which a vehicle isdriving, technology for automatically adjusting speed, such as adaptivecruise control, technology for autonomously driving along a determinedpath, technology for driving by automatically setting a path if adestination is set, and the like.

For example, the communication unit 110 may receive map data, trafficinformation data, or the like from an external server. The autonomousdriving unit 140 d may generate an autonomous driving path and a drivingplan from the obtained data. The control unit 120 may control thedriving unit 140 a such that the vehicle or the autonomous vehicle 100may move along the autonomous driving path according to the driving plan(e.g., speed/direction control). In the middle of autonomous driving,the communication unit 110 may aperiodically/periodically acquire recenttraffic information data from the external server and acquiresurrounding traffic information data from neighboring vehicles. Inaddition, in the middle of autonomous driving, the sensor unit 140 c mayobtain a vehicle state and/or surrounding environment information. Theautonomous driving unit 140 d may update the autonomous driving path andthe driving plan based on the newly obtained data/information. Thecommunication unit 110 may transfer information about a vehicleposition, the autonomous driving path, and/or the driving plan to theexternal server. The external server may predict traffic informationdata using AI technology, or the like, based on the informationcollected from vehicles or autonomous vehicles and provide the predictedtraffic information data to the vehicles or the autonomous vehicles.

The scope of the disclosure may be represented by the following claims,and it should be construed that all changes or modifications derivedfrom the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents may beincluded in the scope of the disclosure.

Claims in the present description can be combined in a various way. Forinstance, technical features in method claims of the present descriptioncan be combined to be implemented or performed in an apparatus, andtechnical features in apparatus claims can be combined to be implementedor performed in a method. Further, technical features in method claim(s)and apparatus claim(s) can be combined to be implemented or performed inan apparatus. Further, technical features in method claim(s) andapparatus claim(s) can be combined to be implemented or performed in amethod.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for a first apparatus to performlong-term evolution (LTE) sidelink (SL) communication based on downlinkcontrol information (DCI), the method comprising: receiving DCI from anew radio (NR) base station through a physical downlink control channel(PDCCH); obtaining a first timing offset based on the DCI; andperforming LTE SL communication based on the first timing offset,wherein the first timing offset is determined by the NR base stationbased on user equipment (UE) capability information of the firstapparatus related to the LTE SL communication.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the UE capability information represents a minimum latencybetween an NR module for NR communication and an LTE module for LTEcommunication of the first apparatus.
 3. The method of claim 2, whereinthe minimum latency represents a minimum value of a time taken from whenthe DCI is received by the NR module to when LTE SL DCI is received bythe LTE module of the first apparatus, wherein the DCI is converted intothe LTE SL DCI by the first apparatus, and wherein the LTE SL DCI isdelivered from the NR module to the LTE module in the first apparatus.4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: transmitting the UEcapability information to the NR base station.
 5. The method of claim 2,wherein the first timing offset is equal to or greater than the minimumlatency.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein a minimum value of the firsttiming offset is equal to or greater than the minimum latency.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the LTE SL communication is performed basedon information on LTE SL communication comprised in the DCI.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, wherein the information on the LTE SL communicationcomprises a second timing offset related to the LTE SL communication,and wherein the second timing offset is added at a time after a lapse ofthe first timing offset from a starting time when the NR module receivesthe DCI.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the second timing offset is atiming offset related to activation of LTE semi-persistent scheduling(SPS).
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the performing of the LTE SLcommunication comprises: determining a time to determine whether toactivate the LTE SPS based on a time after a lapse of the first timingoffset and the second timing offset from the starting time when the NRmodule receives the DCI; and determining whether to activate the LTE SPSat the time to determine whether to activate the LTE SPS.
 11. The methodof claim 10, wherein the performing of the LTE SL communication furthercomprises: determining an LTE SL resource related to the LTE SPS basedon a determination that the LTE SPS is activated.
 12. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the performing of the LTE SL communication furthercomprises: determining an LTE SL resource to which the LTE SPS is notapplied based on a determination that the LTE SPS is deactivated.
 13. Afirst apparatus for performing sidelink (SL) communication based ondownlink control information (DCI), the first apparatus comprising: atleast one memory to store instructions; at least one transceiver; and atleast one processor to connect the at least one memory and the at leastone transceiver, wherein the at least one processor controls the atleast one transceiver to receive DCI from NR base station through aphysical downlink control channel (PDCCH), obtains a first timing offsetbased on the DCI, and performs LTE SL communication based on the firsttiming offset, and wherein the first timing offset is determined by theNR base station based on user equipment (UE) capability information ofthe first apparatus related to the LTE SL communication.
 14. The firstapparatus of claim 13, wherein the UE capability information representsa minimum latency between an NR module for NR communication and an LTEmodule for LTE communication of the first apparatus.
 15. The firstapparatus of claim 14, wherein the minimum latency represents a minimumvalue of a time taken from when the DCI is received by the NR module towhen LTE SL DCI is received by the LTE module of the first apparatus,wherein the DCI is converted into the LTE SL DCI by the first apparatus,and wherein the LTE SL DCI is delivered from the NR module to the LTEmodule in the first apparatus.
 16. An apparatus for controlling a firstuser equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising: at least one processor;and at least one computer memory that is connected to be executable bythe at least one processor and stores instructions, wherein, when theinstructions are executed, the first UE is configured to: receivedownlink control information (DCI) from an NR base station through aphysical downlink control channel (PDCCH), and obtain a first timingoffset based on the DCI, and perform LTE SL communication based on thefirst timing offset, wherein the first timing offset is determined bythe NR base station based on user equipment (UE) capability informationof the first apparatus related to the LTE SL communication.